Houston Area Mormon Youth Prepare for Pioneer Trek

Mixed emotion was what I felt when I first learned that two of my children would have the opportunity to go on a Pioneer Trek over Spring Break. Reenacting the Mormon Pioneers pushing and pulling heavy handcarts through all kinds of weather and terrain did not sound fun to me! Not to mention, the pioneer attire, which the youth are required to wear. However, my opinion changed when I observed my daughters physically and spiritually preparing for this experience.

Besides my kids, hundreds of other Mormon youth in the Houston area are preparing for the same Trek experience. While each LDS stake is trekking at different times and locations, I have seen how it has gotten kids excited about their Mormon Pioneer heritage.

The Pioneer Trek is in memory of nearly 3,000 Mormon immigrants who traveled 1,300 miles on foot from Iowa City, the end of the west-bound railroad, to Salt Lake City from 1856 to 1860. These humble settlers loaded their limited supplies, not in wagons, but in handcarts—four foot by five foot boxes centered over a single axle with wagon-type wheels.

Instead of a horse or oxen to pull their load, the handcarts were moved solely by manpower. With long poles out front and connected by a bar for pushing, these Pioneers pushed and pulled their handcarts over mountains, rivers, and deserts until they reached the Salt Lake Valley. A few of those people were my ancestors.

I was excited when my daughters told me that everyone had to have a pioneer name, preferably from their own family history. Recently, my girls found an ancestor who was born in Iowa during her family’s Trek to the West. It is only fitting that my youngest daughter, who ironically has the same name and spelling as this ancestor, will carry our ancestor’s name during Trek.

Besides the United States, Mormon youth have reenacted Pioneer Treks in Mongolia, Japan, Siberia, Argentina and Italy. Although they are in different locales, they all share similarities. Youth are to be dressed in period clothing, eat campfire meals, leave behind modern amenities and electronics, and are at the mercy of the weather and terrain usually for about three to five days. They also must push and pull handcarts in groups of eight to ten youth.

According to the 2015 LDS Reenactment Guidelines, one purpose of Trek is to help youth “learn who they are and what they may become.” Treks focus on teaching the principles demonstrated by the Pioneers including charity, sacrifice, and perseverance through adversity.

Former President of the Church Gordon B. Hinckley summed up the essence of the Trek experience in a 1984 Ensign article when he said, “It’s good to look to the past to gain appreciation for the present and perspective for the future. It is good to look upon the virtues of those who have gone before, to gain strength for whatever lies ahead.”